Hey Sarah. We’re just back from having walked the Camino Portugués por la Costa (we had already done the Central route). IMHO both are great routes. Neither is particularly difficult. This time after Pontevedra, we detoured off the Central to walk the VE. Loved it! The only “more” difficult part, as mentioned above, is the climb from Combarra to Armenteira. However, the trek up is mostly on pavement. We didn’t find the descent any particular challenge and in fact a refreshing change to going uphill on quite a hot day. Your reward is Armenteira. If possible, stay in the Monestario. We had a wonderful stay there, took in the pilgrim’s mass, and then enjoyed a bite to eat at the café/bar just outside the monastery gates. The second reason to take this route is the spectacular boatride from Vilanova de Arouza to just outside Padrón. We cruised with Amare. The boat launch was no more than a couple minutes walk from our albergue (A Salazon). The unique crosses one see on the ride are well worth the effort to get there. On neither of our Portugese Caminos did we find big crowds although more pilgrims were traveling the Central route this past April/May which was evident when we connected with the interior route near Redondela. Pilgrims were not having difficulty finding beds. I know you’ll enjoy this camino.